More people benefiting from disability support services

A new report released today confirms the ongoing benefits of the Labor Government’s significant investment in support services for people with disability.

Disability support services: services provided under the National Disability Agreement 2011-12 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that as a result of a significant increase in Commonwealth investment more people are getting access to the support services they need.

The Commonwealth Government has doubled funding to state and territory governments for disability services, committing $7.2 billion over six years since July 2009 under the National Disability Agreement.

The report found that more than 317,000 people used disability support services in 2011-12 – an increase of 29 per cent since 2007-2008.

The report also shows that the number of people receiving disability employment services, funded by the Australian Government, has increased by 48 per cent since 2007-08. This increase is because this Labor Government uncapped access to Disability Employment Services, with investment of more than $3 billion over four years.

The Labor Government is delivering record levels of support to people with disability, including the historic launch of DisabilityCare Australia on 1 July.

DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, is up and running in four launch sites across the country – the Hunter area in New South Wales, Geelong and the Barwon area in Victoria, in South Australia for children and in Tasmania for young people.

This is a momentous achievement for Australia, finally giving people with disability, their families and carers the certainty they deserve.

DisabilityCare Australia will give Australians the peace of mind that if they, their child or a loved one has a significant and permanent disability, they will get the support they need, when they need it, over their lifetime.

More than 26,000 people with disability, their families and carers will benefit from the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia, which will be gradually implemented to ensure we establish a sustainable national scheme and that people can transition into the scheme smoothly.

When the full scheme is rolled out nationally by July 2019, about 460,000 Australians with disability will get the support they deserve.

The 2013-14 Federal Budget provided $14.3 billion over seven years to 2018-19 to roll out DisabilityCare Australia nationally, on top of existing Commonwealth disability funding.

Disability support services: services provided under the National Disability Agreement 2011-12 can be accessed at www.aihw.gov.au